Wind of Change
by Rhaya
Summary: Angelus is all souled up in LA and Drusilla's feeling lonely so she looks up her Childe, but he's otherwise occupied with the Slayer. How does a jealous vampiress get revenge? And how will Spike feel about it when he finds out? Warning: Vamp-Dawnie!
1. Chapter 1

"Dawn, wait up!"

The girl turned round with death in her eyes to glare daggers at her friend who trudged breathlessly up to her, scowling as she came to an abrupt halt.

"Were we racing or something? Cause next time you might wanna let me know ahead of time." She snarked.

Dawn didn't answer at first, just rolled her eyes and glanced furtively around, keeping an eye out for any strange movements, odd smells or any of the thousand other things Buffy had listed to watch out for time and time again. She tried to give the appearence of casual curiosity so as not to freak out Janice, but deep down she was terrified. She tried to present a picture of maturity and bravado whenever she begged Buffy to allow her to accompany her on patrol, but deep down the thought of trying to face off with a vamp alone without Buffy or Spike, terrified her.

"Let's hurry, this place gives me the creeps! C'mon. This way." They took off again, Dawn felt her heart pounding a drumbeat in her chest, both fear and the effort of trying to keep up a semi-quick pace helping speed her pulse a fraction above what it might be during a leisurely jog.

As they walked, Dawn had to fight to keep from grumbling under her breathe about Janice's slowness and being dragged out here at this time of night. Even without the presence of vampires and the like, this was a stupid idea. This was possibly the stupidest thing she had ever done. And she'd done alot of stupid things..or so the fake memories implanted by those monks told her. But this had to top them all. If Buffy knew what her little sister was doing she would have thrown a fit.

Cutting across Shady Hill cemetery at ten o'clock at night with her friend Janice, on their way to a party. She had tried to talk Janice out of it, suggesting they just walk around it, or even talk Janice's boyfriend, Steve into driving them. But Janice had nearly bitten her head off at the sugestion. Apparently Janice and Steve weren't all with the happy sparkly coupleness at the moment. So it was either this or sit home on her duff all night bored out of her mind. She figured since Buffy only seemed to patrol a few cemeteries each night, there was a good chance Shady Rest would be one of the ones that was dead tonight. Well..more with the 'dead' than the 'undead', hopefully. And she had worn her most comfortable shoes just in case they needed to run.

Sneaking out of the house had been a piece of cake, Tara and Willow had gone to bed early and luckily her sister was away for a couple of days, something about having had a 'ginormous lapse in judgement' and needing a break from Sunnydale and slayage. She hadn't been very forthcoming, but that was nothing new.

MMost everyone was still in various states of shock about Buffys announcement that she'd made some huge mistakes and needed somewhere to go just to breath. And the worst part, they wouldn't tell her anything. Still treated her as some naive child in need of protecting from everything more serious than the Backstreet Boys and Cap'n Crunch. Don't let them hear Janice's opinion about the Cap'n's remarkable resemblance to porn star Ron Jeremy, or they'd talk Buffy into banning her favorite cereal too.

It was just really lame being coddled by a bunch of supposed 'adults' who could barely get their own lives in order when you consider that Dawn is technically older than all of the Scoobys combined. Well, aside from Anya obviously. And maybe Spike...how old was he anyway? Angel was like, over 200, and she thinks she remembers Giles saying Spike was younger than him, so probably not.

Dawn wasn't completely clueless though, she'd heard a few whispers between the Scoobys when they thought she was out of earshot, and had heard Spikes name come up often. Once in particular, it had taken Buffy actually physically restraining the bulky man to keep him from taking off after the platinum vampire. Dawn guessed it was just like usual with the Scoobys, when something goes wrong, blame Spike.

Dawn rolled her eyes at the thought. Spike wasn't even doing anything! He can't kill anymore so what's Rileys problem? The little bits of conversation she'd been able to pick up told her Riley had accused Spike of doing something horrible...big surprise. And as usual her sister had just gone along with it ..because obviously humans never ever lied about anything. Ever. And vampires , you can't believe anything they say. Dawn snorted.

Stupid Riley coming to town with his stupid new wife and ruining everything. Stupid Suvolte demon bringing him here. She continues along her path, yanking Janics hand almost angrily in the rush to spur the other girl forward. They were almost to the edge of the cemetery now, she can see the gates from here in the distance. Carefully picking their way around the tombstones and small ornate crypts, she can hear Janices heavy breathing beside her.

"Okay, we're almost there, I guess w've earned a breather. Let's stop..just for..a minute." Dawn panted, bending over and resting her hands on her thighs, her rear resting on something hard and cold that she lacked the will or energy to examine. Only now realizing how winded she herself was. Janice gave her a grateful glance, pulling her backpack off and retreiving a bottle of water from it. Draining half of it with a sputtered cough, she offered it to Dawn who took it thankfully, draining what was left before pitching the empty container into a nearby bush.

"Okay, let's go."

Both girls jumped and let out simultanious squeals when her silvery voice crackled through the still evening air.

"Go? But why would you want to leave the party now? Don't you want to stay for tea? We shall have such fun together!" Her pretty face broke into a childish grin and she hopped up and down excitedly.

The voice was strangely familiar, sugary sweet with a hint of something dark, and forboding. Dawn clenched onto Janice's shoulder, pulling her in the opposite direction from whence they had come. Her mind trying frantically to place that voice while her feet scrabble against the ground trying to get them both away from it as fast as possible. Whoever it was it was obvious that it spelled trouble.

Suddenly a hand, snapped seemingly out of nowhere and snatched Dawns collar in a grip that rivaled that of her Slayer sister and Dawn knew she was in trouble. Janice watched the scene, dumbstruck and creeped out, wondering why this weird lady was bothering them. Her brow furled in indignation and she stood there glaring at the figure with her hands on her hips. If this had been any other situation it would have at least gotten a wry grin out of Dawn. If anything could be said for Janice it was that she had guts. Unfortunately she'd chosen the exact wrong moment to display them. Dawn had a feeling that as crazy as she appeared to be, this vamp would enjoy ripping out said guts and skipping rope with them. Right now though, she seemed intent on babbling them to death, which bought Dawn some time. Dawn looked at Janice who was still standing there eying the scene incredulously.

Dawn knew every second counted, she had minimal experience with vamps, mostly due to Buffys lectures and what little training she could gleen out of Spike when Buffy wasn't looking. But Janice had not even that much and was just ripe for the plucking if this ones attention was diverted from her. Eying a low hanging branch a few meters away, Dawn looked at Janice and yelled out in a voice as commanding as she could muster. "Run, Janice! Go to my house and tell Tara I'm in trouble here, she'll know what to do." Praying silently that Spike had remembered to charge his phone earlier and that he had it on him. She had briefly considered telling her where to find Spike but sending her to Restfield would be a bit like sending her out of the frying pan into the fire, and if Janice chose the wrong crypt they could be in worse trouble. -

Janice stared dumbly for a few seconds, clearly unsure, until Dawn tried to pull away and Drusilla delivered a sharp crack to the side of her face, knocking Dawn unconscious. Seeing her friend in real trouble sent the teen into motion at last and she bolted off in the direction of the gate they'd spotted earlier. Her heart pounding, sweat breaking out over her forehead and upper lip.

'What the hell was that? Oh god, Tara is SO going to call my mom. Everyone's going to know I snuck out. I am sooo dead. Damn it..I really need a new set of friends..."

No thought did she give to leaving her friend in the hands of the deranged, strange woman. If all else failed Dawn could just kick her in the shin and take off, right? -

She groaned in protest as fingers of awareness tickled her she could even attempt to open her eyes, Dawns senses were immediately overwhelmed by the dank, dusty stench of earth. It surrounded her, permeating her senses and she immediately knew she was somewhere underground. 'Obviously not dead or I couldn't smell anything at all.'

A dim glow cast itself over the floor of the old crypt, drawing her attention to a figure dancing in dainty circles, her red and black dress billowing behind her. Melodically humming along to music only she could hear. Dawn froze for a moment, mesmerized by her. After a few minutes something told Dawn now was her best chance to escape. But it was when she tried to sit up, that she noticed the shackles on both her hands and feet, effectively dashing that hope. She struggled futilely for a few moments, the weirdo vampiress never taking notice, too caught up in her own world for the time being. Eventually her humming began to grate on Dawns nerves and she broke the silence. Hating the pleading tone in her voice, wishing she could be as strong and brave as her sister would be in this situation, but then she wasn't the one with all the nifty mystical powers to help her, and her sister could be anywhere. No one would be coming in to rescue her this time. This vampiress was obviously not playing with a full deck, so no amount of begging for her life would work. Reasoning? Nope. Bargaining? Nuh uh. She didn't exactly have much to offer. That's it then.

She was really going to die.

Unless...she was sure she recalled Spike and Giles both referring to some kind of 'familial bond' where they could sorta..sense each other. Maybe if she stalled her long enough it would give Spike time to find them. It was a long shot but it was the only shot. How to stall a bloodthirsty vamp from its meal though?

"W-..why are you doing this..?" Okaaaay, stupid question Dawnie, she, vampire, you, lunch..or is it dinner? Never know with vamps and their weird schedules. So not the point anyway. Snapping out of the stupidity that her mind had conjured up to distract her from the situation, she tried to focus on what the madwoman was saying and make sense of it.

No easy task. Hell, even Spike said he'd had trouble grasping her ramblings now and then. God, where was Spike when she needed him? He might hate her sister at times, but then who didn't? But he'd help Dawn if he knew she was trapped by his crazy ex. That summer when Buffy was...gone, Dawn could never bring herself to think, much less talk about her sister being dead since that time. Spike had been the only thing standing between Dawn and a busy highway, and she had stopped him from taking an afternoon stroll a time or two as well. He'd done everything he could to keep her safe, she wished he was here now.

A singsong, almost girlish giggle snapped her back to her gruesome reality. When she dared a look she saw Drusilla had stopped her dance and was now staring with empty, glazed eyes at the dusty wall of the makeshift prison, wringing her hands.

"Look at what she has done to him!" She ranted fretfully, looking at Dawn as though she expected her to understand every word, when Dawn was pretty much clueless. She paced as she ranted, dragging Dawn with her.

"Who?" Dawn whispered, trying to figure out what the crazy vamp was going on about.

"My poor sweet William. Tried to rescue him, I did. Tried to help him and Daddy..but they wouldn't listen. sunshine burned them up. No more tea parties for William, no more cakes for Daddy. All gone. Not nice to leave little girls all alone...is it?" Turning round to face the girl, dru lifted a perfectly groomed eyebrow in question and waited for some sign of agreement with her statement.

Dawn ignored the pointed barb and focused instead on what was said before it. Her eyes widening slowly with the weight of her assumption. Nobody had ever told her not to take anything Dru said 'literally', so she had no way of decophering what the 'sunshine' truly meant.

"The SUN?...oh god...oh no..."A wave of panic hit Dawn, causing Drusilla to pause in her steps and give her a funny look, sensing a shift in the childs heartbeat which now pounded even more furiously in her ears. Knocking her scattered thoughts even more assunder.

"The sun took Spike? As in..dusty Spike, ...?" Dawns voice took on a helpless tone. All at once her heart cracked, and her mind was sent into a complete tailspin. Life without Spike? She didn't want to imagine what it would be like. No matter what had happened they were family, he was just as much family to her as Buffy was, as Joyce had been. Her family was the only thing that made her feel 'real'.

She couldn't breath. Suddenly the cold, dank air of the old crypt felt more cloying than before, her pulse pounded in her veins, and waves of nausea hit her like a freight train. Her mother was gone, her sister could barely stand to look at her or anyone else most days, and now Spike, her only touchstone, the only adult to actually listened to her, who had truly cared about the opinions of some kid only put here as a hidey-hole for a bunch of monks to stash their precious 'key' in.. was gone.

How could that be? She'd only seen him last night..trying to get him to tell her what the hell had happened between him and Buffy that would send her sister packing. Of course he'd been just as stoic and silent about it as everyone else went when she entered the room, she thought, just before he'd told her to get on home before the Scoobs sent a search party. It was brief and he'd looked like hell, but in a very undusty way.

Buffy was going to freak, too! Dawn didn't care what terms her sister had left on, it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that Buffy cared for Spike on some level, otherwise she wouldn't have asked him to keep watch over Dawn, and she wouldn't have had to leave town because of something to do with him. And she knew well enough what Buffy did to people...or otherworld beings that hurt those she cared about.

"Now I shall snuff out the light from the sunshines pretty little beam. Then we shall dance together! We will throw a party and all our friends shall come and dance... and oh such fun it shall be. Mummy shall have a new dolly to play with. I shall dress her in pretty red ribbons and have lots and lots of tea parties!" The vampiress crooned, flicking a hand almost tenderly over the girls long brown hair, running the tip of one long pointed claw down Dawns throat and leaving a thin red trail behind it. Dawn cringed, as the true meaning of 'red ribbons' and 'tea parties' set into her addled brain. Caught up in another wave of panic spurred only by an intense will to live, she began trying as fiercely as she could to struggle was becoming increasingly obvious that it wouldn't work though, as the chains never budged. Meanwhile Drusilla watched her with interest as she struggled. Finally giving up she ceased her movement, closing her eyes and laying her head back against the wall with a thud. She could hear the vampiress giggling quietly and talking to a voice only she could hear, but lacked the energy to try and make out her words. Cracking an eye open she sent what she hoped was a deadly glare worthy of her sister in Dru's general direction, noting the gleeful smile on her pretty red lips.

"Anyone ever tell you it's not nice to play with your food?" She snarked, the almost Buffy-like quip dripping easily off her lips. As soon as she got it out, she wondered where it came from, while fully expecting to pay for it. If vamp-girl here could form a coherent enough thought to work out her meaning.

It didn't take long. That vice-like hand yanked her hair in its iron grip, pulling her head back, claws digging into her tender scalp, while another claw appeared from out of nowhere and slashed her from eyebrow to throat, digging 4 deep red paths into her flesh. "Now now, none of that..bad dolly! We shall have to teach you some manners!" She snarled, yanking Dawn forward with supernatural strength. The chains releasing as soon as Dru made contact as though by some mystical force. Her snarl deepened and she flung the girl to the ground like a rag doll. Dawns back hit a protruding rock, hard, effectively paralizing her and she cried out, panic beating a drumbeat throughout her entire being, telling her to flee, get away now! She pulled herself up with her arms and tried to get to her feet but it was useless. The numbness from her waist down told her escape was a futile effort. Finally, the fight left her and she slumped down on the cold dirty ground, accepting her fate. Buffy was gone and Spike was probably passed out on the floor of his crypt with a bottle, pining for her or whatever the hell he does when he wasn't annoying the Scoobys or stalking Buffy these days. Dawn was effectively screwed. The fact was punctuated in her mind by the blur looming above her, blocking her from the only exit. Not that she could have moved to reach it anyway. That's weird, why were there three of her? All identical, all moving straight for her with arms outstretched. She reached up to rub her eyes and felt something moist and wet trickling down her temple.

"Oh.."

Must have knocked herself one in the head, too. Would account for the triple vision.

A sickening squishy sounding crunch broke the silence, as Drusillas face shifted into her vampiric features and the last thing Dawn saw was a flash of black and red zipping toward her at preternatural speed. She felt a sharp, piercing pain at the base of her throat and then the red grew deeper, swirling around her. Her last thought was hoping Janice got home safe, as gradually the red veil continued to darken and move around her until it left behind only a cold, black void.


	2. Chapter 2

When Dawn groggily came to a moment later, the woman turned her head and glared at her, her eyes flashing to luminous brown to bright gold in the moonlight.

"Bad dolly, you're supposed to be napping!" The words came out sharp, biting. Her eyes narrowed at Dawn, appraising, surveying the the condition of the girl who was the point of this whole game.

Assessing that Dawn was in no shape to move very much or talk just yet, she huffed, "No cakes for you", before turning her attention back to the other girl. Giggling madly at the reactionary gasps of her captives, Dru decided to have a little more fun with Janice for the time being, and flashed a bit of fang at the already terrified teenager.

Having been around vampires as long as she could really remember clearly, even if most of those memories were fake ones, Dawn caught the show out of the corner of her eye, her head still swimming, but was not really phased much. But being left out of the whole 'Slayer loop' therefor the more naive of the two, Janice's eyes went wide as plates and her mouth gaped open in shock, giving her a weird kind of resemblence to a fish snatched out of its aquatic home and placed in the Sahara.

Dru could smell the sudden wave of fear roll off the girls and it hit her with a pleasurable wave in her lower belly, making her whole body hum. She did love it when they ran round like the frightened little lambs they were! It made the game much more fun. If only her Spike were here to enjoy it with her, it would be so much better. He always did know how to make the little girls cry so prettily, she mused.

Somehow amidst her panic, Janice managed to pull it together enough to shake her head to clear it a little, putting the odd sight of the womans changing eye color down to a flash of moonlight, or perhaps shock or a concussion. Either way, she was determined not to leave her unconscious friend here to deal with skankarella alone. No matter how petrified she suddenly found herself.

"Look, lady, please just leave us alone, we didn't mean to.."

In a flash Dru was standing mere inches from Janice, long bfore the girl had time to wonder how she'd gotten there since she didn't se her walk the five or six steps she would've needed to take. "Hush now, little one.." The vampiress commanded softly, her tone sending shocks up the tenagers spine. She gave her a bright smile that was rife with childish glee and ran a slender, claw tipped finger down the girls cheek. Janice pulled away and batted at the offending fingers that had traveled downward and grazed her collarbone.

"Hey, hands off the merchandise, you freak! I don't know what your problem is, but I don't really swing that way."

If this had been any other situation it would have at least gotten a wry grin out of Dawn, as she watched from her place on the ground where she lie, trying to steady her breathe and make her limbs work. She briefly wondered if the hard landing she had taken on the ground might have been enough to paralyze her. Quickly discarding the notion. She probably just needed a moment to rest, then she could figure out how to get them out of here. Hopefully with all limbs intact, and bite free.

She almost chuckled, or at least she would have if her lungs didn't feel full of lead, as she watched Janice square her shoulders and stalk up to the master vampiress. If anything could be said for Janice, it was that she had guts.

Unfortunately she'd chosen the exact wrong moment, and creature, to display them. Dawn knew that as crazy as she appeared to be, this vamp would enjoy ripping out said guts and skipping rope with them. She had enough memories, all be them fake ones, of things she really didn't want to even think about, much less experience just because Janice couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Right now though, Dru seemed intent on babbling them to death, alternating between angry ranting and wailing like an injured cat, about things neither girl understood. But it bought Dawn some time. Dawn looked at Janice who was still standing there eying the scene incredulously. Trying to read between the lines of the womans insane babbling, which was pretty much impossible.

She met Janice's eye briefly. Knowing every second counted, and the truth would only wind up getting them into more trouble, she didn't even try to explain. She'd had minimal experience with vamps, mostly due to Buffy s lectures and what little training she could glean out of Spike when Buffy wasn't looking, but Janice had not even that much and was just ripe for the plucking if this one's attention wasn't diverted from her.

Eying a low hanging branch a few meters away, Dawn looked at Janice again and yelled out in a voice as commanding as she could muster, hoping for once in her life, Janice would do as she asked without being a pain about it. "Run, Janice! Go to my house and tell Tara I'm in trouble here. Please, don't ask, just do it! Tell her it's Dru, she'll know what to do. RUN!"

She prayed silently that Spike had remembered to charge his phone earlier and that he had it on him. She briefly considered telling her friend where to find Spike, but sending her from one cemetery to another, would be a bit like sending her out of the frying pan into the fire, and if Janice chose the wrong crypt and ran into the wrong vampire, they could be in worse trouble. Plus, how would she explain that why a 'family friend' lived in a crypt anyway?

"Oh yes, yes please run!" Dru crooned excitedly. Her hand was still locked round Dawns neck but not tight enough to choke her air off, just enough to completely restrain her movement. Dawns hands frantically clawed at the hand pinning her down, but it wouldn't budge.

"It has been so dreadfully long since anyone has played run and catch with me!"

Seeing her friend in real trouble made Janice forget all about trying to figure out what this stranger was saying and sent the teen into motion at last and she bolted off in the direction of the gate they'd spotted earlier. Her heart was pounding, sweat breaking out over her forehead and upper lip.

'What the hell was that? she wondered, panic hurrying her steps, her trainers squeaking against the grass as she ran, willing her legs to carry her away from the woman before she got bored with Dawn and came after her.

Little did she know, the woman had no interest in her whatsoever at the moment, only a very big score to settle, and Dawn was the only tool she needed to accomplish her goal.

Her whole body aching too much too allow much movement, Dawn craned only her neck, glanced around, and spotted her cell phone. It was lying on the ground barely three inches from her outstretched hand, probabl having fallen out of her backpack at some point. She tended to leave the front zipper open. Without even thinking about it, Dawn used every ounce of energy she possessed to lunge for it and quickly punched in a number on her speed dial. It only rang twice before there was an answer.

"Hello?"

Silently promising to thank whatever forces that Spike was carrying that damn cell phone he hated so much tonight, she tried to think of something quick to say but coherent thought was rapidly leaving her, so all Dawn could think to do was scream. "SPIKE!"

With his sensitive hearing, the shrill scream made Spike drop the phone before he got a chance to ask who it was. But the voice had a familiar quality to it, "Who is this?" He asked once he recovered the phone and control over his faculties a little.

He heard lots of shuffling and the phone being jostled, making him pull it back and look at the digital display. Janice..wasn't that Dawns little friend?

His voice was a little less calm when he spoke again, and tried in vain to control the shaking that was beginning to settle in his hands, at the thought of his Bit in the kind of trouble to garner those kind of screams. His eyes flashing a dangerous yellow for a moment but he pushed the demon back. Time enough for that later once he knew what or whom to kill. Sod the chip, if it were human, he'd find a way.

"Hello?"

No answer came but the screaming continued followed by a voice that was too far away to make out through the phone, even with his enhanced hearing.

All he knew was one of his girls was in trouble. That was enough to set him shooting to his feet, searching out what he'd need to leave the crypt as he tried in vain to get a read on where they were. Last he'd heard Buffy was still out of town so that only left..

"Help! Spike, for gods sake HELP ME!" Dawns scream was garbled in her own throat the as her face met the ground courtesy of a powerful blow to the temple, phone wrenched out of her hand with strength she couldn't have hoped to match. Snapping it shut she threw it on the ground and trounced it underfoot.

"Nasty thing! Telling all my secrets. Some secrets aren't meant to be shared with others..not until the stars say so."

That vice-like hand was at her throat again, choking but not hard enough that she couldn't breath at all. Just enough to make breathing strained and every breathe a gasp.

Across town in another cemetery, Spike was now completely sober. Hearing and recognizing Dawns cry for help through his beer induced fog had quickly forced his mind to the surface.

He was now hopping up and down on one foot dragging on his pants, and alternating between yelling into the phone and listening to the gruesome sounds emitting from it. Which consisted of little more than Dawns painful screams, gasps and heavy breathing. Normally an enticing mixture but sure as shit not when the Nibblet was involved!

He had to try very hard to control his demon, who also considered the Summers girls family, and even that proved unsuccessful as his face shifted briefly, before he managed to shake it off.

"Buggering Hell...sit tight Bit, I'm on my way!" He yelled into the phone, then hung it up and stuffed it into his pocket.

He dragged his Doc's and a t-shirt on and grabbed his duster and keys as he flew out the door and headed to Revello Drive.

As Janice ran, her panic increased with every pound of boot to pavement. She wanted to help her friend, she really did! But what if she got to Dawn's house and told them what happened, and Tara made her call her own mother? It was the type of thing Tara would do, make sure her mom wouldn t be up worrying about her all this time, even though anyone who knows Janice s family knows they d hardly spare her a glance, much less listen to her side.

They d simply ground her because it was what was expected of them and then go about their business. Janice couldn t let herself be grounded; there were two parties over the next few weeks that if she missed, her social life would be toast! Dawn would be okay, anyway. She was tough enough to get away from that woman; she wasn t that much smaller than she was.

What could happen, anyway? If all else failed Dawn could just trick the woman, then kick her in the shin and take off, right? She turned left and made her way quickly and quietly up the driveway and into her bedroom window, that thought firmly wedging itself in place of the guilt stirring in her belly, and having successfully talked herself out of doing anything more to help Dawn. After all, she'd helped her call for help, what more could she really do that wouldn't get her in trouble, too?

She was asleep within fifteen minutes. Oblivious that this single selfish act, had changed Dawn's life irreparably. 


End file.
